An in-depth look at the rise of Glenturret

Glenturret might be Scotland’s oldest working distillery, but it’s not stuck in the past.

Tucked into a scenic glen in Crieff, Perthshire, the Highland whisky maker has been producing the good stuff for more than 250 years. Its whisky has been known by royalty and Robert Burns. Famous Victorian whisky author Alfred Barnard called it “a perfect paradise to artists”. A place where tradition reigned and “no new fads” intruded. 

Fast forward to today, and those fads have well and truly moved in.

The rise of Glenturret

In the past decade, Glenturret has reinvented itself as a “premium” brand. A distillery where you can sip rare single malts under a crystal chandelier, dine on Michelin-starred tasting menus, and retire to a £600-a-night boutique house. 

It’s still small and hands-on, though, and that tension between grit and gloss, legacy and luxury, is what makes Glenturret worth paying attention to. 

Its reputation for being a home for the finer things in life has grown to such an extent that it’s even become a target. This week, a break-in occurred at the distillery, and several bottles of single malt whisky worth thousands of pounds were stolen. Including the Glenturret 25 Year Old and Still Life Spring by Lalique. 

How did this humble brand, once better known for distillery cats and Famous Grouse, change its spots? Let’s take an in-depth look at the rise of Glenturret.

A short history of Glenturret

Glenturret was officially established in 1775, according to the distillery itself. But research from its current owners suggests legal whisky-making began on the site as early as 1763 under the name “Thurot”. Over the years, it became known as “Hosh”. It wasn’t until 1875 that it adopted the Glenturret name — borrowed from a nearby, long-closed distillery (itself inspired by the nearby Loch Turret). 

These evolutions are par for the course in Scotch whisky history. Littlemill often styles itself as “Scotland’s oldest licensed distillery“, dating to 1772. Is Glenturret claiming that crown now, too? These histories have a habit of twisting and turning.

As does the fate of Scotch whisky distilleries. In Glenturret’s case, it survived multiple closures (notably during the First World War and again in 1921) before a revival in 1957 under James Fairlie. What followed is the typical raft of ownership changes. Cointreau, Highland Distillers, later Edrington… It was under the direction of the latter that Glenturret became the home of The Famous Grouse Experience. Whisky made here was used primarily for the blend, and there was little single malt ambition. 

That’s what Glenturret was primarily known for in whisky circles. That, and its famous distillery cats. Today, there are two, Glen and Turret. But it’s the Guinness-record-breaking mouser Towser who remains the star. The tortoiseshell cat is said to have dispatched an estimated 28,899 mice, averaging three mice per day until her death on 20 March 1987. There’s a statue of her at the distillery. 

Enter Lalique: The Art of Repositioning

Glenturret’s fortunes changed when the company was sold to Glenturret Holding in 2018. This was a joint venture between the Lalique Group and Swiss entrepreneur Hansjörg Wyss, Lalique’s second-largest shareholder. The brief was clear: turn Glenturret into a luxury brand with global reach. After £4.5 million worth of investment, Lalique’s fingerprints are now everywhere.

The Glenturret Lalique restaurant

The impact is seen best in The Glenturret Lalique restaurant. Led by chef Mark Donald, it’s now the only two-Michelin-starred restaurant inside a distillery anywhere in the world. 

The food doesn’t just pair with the whisky — it draws from it. Malted barley goes into the bread. Even the sauces are sometimes fermented using distillery yeast.

It’s pricey. The tasting menu starts at £220, and the wine flight adds at least £125. A dram from the whisky “bible” could set you back anything from a fiver to £2,500. For those who see distilleries as humble, working factories, the idea of such fine dining may seem like gilding the stills. 

But the impact is undeniable: Glenturret now appears in gastronomic circles. It’s on the map for fine dining as well as fine whisky, bringing a new kind of visitor to the glen.

Aberturret Estate House

The investment in whisky tourism extends to accommodation too, thanks to the £600,000 refurbishment of Aberturret Estate House. 

This 19th-century former family home of the Murrays (who founded the distillery) now serves as boutique lodging with six individually styled rooms, minimalist design, and luxury finishes.

The idea was to lean away from Highland clichés, so it’s all very muted tones, think Harris Tweed and Jono Smart pottery with the occasional Lalique accent. Guests can book rooms individually or take over the entire house, with activities ranging from whisky tastings to archery. Aspirational, or aloof? I haven’t stayed myself, so couldn’t say, but I’d wager many of the Grouse drinkers who kept the lights on at this distillery for many years never will either. 

Glenturret whisky in 2025

The direction of travel for Glenturret is clear. This is the opposite of tweed and tartan whisky. It’s an embrace and push towards a different future, one where whisky is part of a wider experience: fine dining, rare bottlings, cask sales, private stays. That risks alienating some traditionalists. But others see its potential to “elevate” the category.

The whisky bottles were updated with designs by Appartement 103. The packaging raised eyebrows at first — bold, sculptural bottles that felt more perfume than peated — but they make an increasing amount of sense. They’re ergonomic, elegant, and versatile enough to accommodate travel retail and one-off editions without losing visual cohesion.

As for the liquid? Each year’s core range evolves slightly, with sherry and American oak maturation offering continuity. The line-up includes 7, 10, 12, 15, 25, and 30-year-old expressions, along with occasional limited editions and a distillery-exclusive. The house style leans rich, textural, and subtly spiced — Highland with a twist of opulence.

The core range was crafted under the guidance of former Macallan master blender Bob Dalgarno. Ex-Macallan marketing director Ken Grier was also brought on board, in case you need any clues what the ambition was here. 

Still a whisky distillery 

Strip away the design and the decadence, and Glenturret is still, fundamentally, an old-school Highland distillery. The site has character. It’s small, idiosyncratic, and shaped by people. The process begins at 5 a.m. and finishes well into the evening.

Annual production sits at just 440,000 litres, with three production runs in a day, each using about 1.8 tonnes of barley. The water supply comes from the aforementioned Loch Turret which flows from Ben Chonzie in the Grampian mountain range. 

Glenturret still uses traditional on-site floor maltings. Instead of relying on modern machines, barley is soaked, spread across a malting floor, and manually turned until germination is just right – then it’s kilned to lock in the magic. It’s a laborious process, but scores Genturret’s crucial “craft” brownie points.

After preparation in a Porteus mill, the grain is mixed with water in the distillery’s new mash tun. It’s larger, more energy efficient, easier to clean and control, and represents the biggest upgrade the distillery has seen in more than 50 years. Fermentation takes place in eight Douglas fir washbacks over a generous 90 to 120 hours. That long, slow process encourages the development of fruity, floral esters.

Distillation happens on a humble yet precise scale: just one wash still and one spirit still. The wash still holds 12,500 litres and sports a distinctive cone shape – unusual in whisky terms, but purposeful. The 9,000-litre spirit still includes a reflux bowl, which promotes heavier reflux and yields a smoother, more refined spirit. Both stills are uniquely shaped to maximise reflux in the necks, and the condensers are housed outside the stillhouse to reduce cooling water use – a small tweak with a big efficiency payoff.

When it comes to maturation, Glenturret likes a sherry cask (predominantly European oak) and bourbon-seasoned American oak casks. There’s not a raft of wacky cask styles being thrown at the market annually (so far), which suggests that Lalique is taking a measured approach to how it wants to present Glenturret whisky. 

Leaving the Smoke Behind

One big choice the group made was to kill peated whisky at Glenturret. If you enjoyed its Ruadh Mhor (‘Big Red’), the name given to peated spirit made here, then sorry, from this year (2025) it will be discontinued as the brand focuses exclusively on unpeated single malts. 

The decision was positioned as an environmental one. Peat isn’t renewable on a meaningful human timescale, and while the whisky industry uses very little of it overall, sustainability sells. Of course, it helps that the move tightens the distillery’s identity.

For a luxury brand, clarity is currency. Peated whiskies can complicate flavour messaging and require extra effort in production hygiene (gotta clean that stinky smoke away before it contaminates the unpeated stuff). This absence may disappoint enthusiasts, but for most consumers, it’s unlikely the shift will register.

Is this the Future?

Glenturret is a distillery and a brand transformed. The future seems bright. But its development prompts larger questions. 

What is the role of a distillery in 2025? Is it a place to make whisky, or an engine for storytelling, hospitality, and design? Can a site with deep historical roots be evolved into a platform for global luxury marketing?

There are risks. Some may see the brand veering too close to the Macallan model — another distillery where decanters, design, and high-concept storytelling are too central. Does the whisky get left behind? Does the glass overshadow the liquid inside it?

Glenturret’s scale, its setting, and its traditional methods arguably keep it grounded. What’s emerging is a distillery experience that signals the direction of travel for Scotch whisky. One where a dram is part of something bigger, more aspirational: a meal, a story, a stay. 

It’s not for everyone. But it’s a serious attempt to answer a very modern question: how does Scotch evolve while staying Scotch?

You can buy Glenturret whisky from Master of Malt. Just click on the link in the distillery’s name.

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